Science Education
sporte | May 27, 2008Students, teachers and scientists converge tommorrow morning from all around the Puget Sound region and elsewhere in Washington to share their experiences and talk about science. The students will present posters, science-themed music, art, drama, and many different types of projects that involved first-hand research and investigation. Scientists from the local biotech companies and research institutions talk with the students and judge the projects.
The public viewing time is tomorrow, May 28th, between 9 am-12 noon at the Meydenbauer Center. More information can be found here.
This…
sciencewoman | May 17, 2008
Sana Raoof, left, 17, of Muttontown, N.Y., Yi-Han Su, 17, center, of Chinese Taipei and Natalie Saranga Omattage, right, 17, of Cleveland, Miss., pose after receiving top honors at the 2008 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta, Friday, May 16, 2008.
Yesterday, Yi-Han Su was named one of three winners of the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award at ISEF 2008, for her project on "Efficient Hydrogen Production Using Cu-Zn-Al Catalysts Prepared by Homogeneous Precipitation Method." Below the fold I'll show you what a winning display looks like and I'll share her…
sciencewoman | May 16, 2008Breaking news....they've just announced the grand award winners at the Intel International
Science and Engineering Fair. And I'm absolutely thrilled to tears to announce that the top three prize winners are all girls! One more nail in the coffin for those who say that girls can't do science, math, and engineering.
Go below the fold for full details...
Three talented, hard working, and lucky students are the recipients of the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award, which includes a $50,000 college scholarship. This year's winners are:
Efficient Hydrogen Production Using Cu-Zn-Al Catalysts…
clock | May 15, 2008Sciencewoman is in Atlanta, judging this year's International Science and Engineering Fair and liveblogging the whole thing:
Going to Atlanta....
First Taste of the International Science and Engineering Fair
ISEF 2008: Nobel Laureates Panel
ISEF 2008: Day 1 by the numbers
ISEF 2008: Full disclosure
ISEF 2008: Impressive science by high school students
ISEF 2008: Cool science and practical applications
ISEF 2008: Special awards and scenes from around the fair
Update: Here are the winners:
ISEF 2008: The best of the best! And they're girls!
sciencewoman | May 15, 2008 As I write this, the special awards ceremony for ISEF 2008 is wrapping up. Tonight, awards are being given by professional organizations, corporations, colleges and universities, and branches of government. Almost all of the major professional societies are represented, from the American Meteorological Society to the Vacuum Technology Division of the American Vacuum Society. (Each professional society, as well as the other special awards organizations, contribute their own judges to the fair, so that's another way you could get involved. Requirements for being a special awards judge may vary…
scientificactivist | May 14, 2008On Monday, I attended an interesting lecture sponsored by the 21st Century School here in Oxford entitled "What Is Science For?". You can see a discussion on the event here and read a pdf summary of it here. The lecture was co-presented by scientist John Sulston and philosopher John Harris, and it was introduced by Richard Dawkins, who also moderated the Q&A afterward. As the summary focuses on, the event was partially a debate on the purpose of science, with Harris proposing a utilitarian view and Sulston defending a focus more on the intrinsic value of inquiry and discovery (and…
sciencewoman | May 14, 2008More selections from projects I'm seeing at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
"Evergreen Fire Alarm Suppression System" by Matthew Stegall of Charlotte, North Carolina. Stegall designed a system to detect, alarm, and extinguish Christmas tree fires, over 400 of which occur each year in the United States.
"Reducing Lawnmower emissions using E-85 Phase 3: A catalyst for change" by Kate Weegman of Winona, Minnesota. Weegman used E-85 and an ignition advancement system to reduce carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides from 6.5 hp engines.
"Dog gone…
sciencewoman | May 14, 2008I'm going to be busy judging all day long, so I've scheduled some posts to show you the sort of projects I'll be looking at today. Actually, I'll only be judging -ology projects, but I'll leave you to decide which ones those are.
"Weak Lensing Mass Estimates of Low Redshift Clusters of Galaxies" by Anthony Yunker, Kelsey Lawhorn, and Frances Mei Hardin. The team consists of two juniors and a senior.
"Microfluidic image cytometry to detect PI3K pathway markers in brain cancer" by Jane Suh, a sophmore.
"The effect of visually enhanced medicine labels on recall ability" by Bradley Shields,…
sciencewoman | May 14, 2008I didn't sleep very well last night, and I'm going to pretend that was solely because I was bothered by not being 100% honest with my readers...so here goes. Why am I judging at ISEF? And why am I giving it so much coverage on blog?
Second things first, Intel is picking up the tab for a trip that I would very much have liked to take even on my own dime. They wanted blog coverage and contacted one of the big-name Sbers who passed the word along. Much as I am sure Intel would have liked PZs blog statistics, they got me. And I am thrilled to help increase visibility for a really worthwhile…
sciencewoman | May 13, 2008
Miles walked: At least 5. The Georgia World Congress Center is huge!
Random "it's a small world" connections made: 2
Not-entirely-unexpected reunions encountered: 3
Ounces pumped and dumped: 7 (so far)
Freakouts had: None since the airport.
Times I've called home: None.(I don't want to risk waking a sleeping baby. I'll call tomorrow morning.)
Time I'll be home tomorrow night: 11ish.
Abstracts read: at least 40.
Hours of judging I'll have tomorrow: 3 without a break, 8 total
Projects I've been impressed by: All of them. It's hard to believe some of the science these high school studentss are…
sciencewoman | May 13, 2008A cool feature of ISEF is the science star power. This afternoon the judges were treated to a panel full of science luminaries: Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Robert Curl, Rich Roberts, Dudley Herschbach, H. Robert Horvitz, and Leon Lederman. I walked in a few minutes late, so I didn't catch the introductions, but the moderators voice sounded so familiar. At the end of the session, I discovered the reason...our panel was moderated by Joe Palca, from Science Friday. The session had an open microphone on the floor for questions from the audience. Both the questions and answers were incredibly thought-…
sciencewoman | May 13, 2008So I've arrived at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Atlanta and I'm starting to get my bearings. I've been oriented to judging and have been previewing the projects. There are more than 1500 projects from students in grades 9-12 from 51 countries and the students are competing for almost $4 million in prizes and scholarships. Almost half of the contestants are girls. There will be an estimated 550 judges tomorrow, making sure that each student gets seen by 6 "Grand Awards" judges plus special awards judges representing universities and professional societies. My…
gregladen | May 13, 2008There is a point that I've been trying to make for the last few weeks now, off and on, and it is not working. So I'm going to try something new. Please bear with me, and consider the following three scenarios regarding the idea that the Earth is Round (or, possibly, flat):
Please ask yourself: Which of these scenarios is best? Which is least desirable?
Scenario A: Divided Opinion
Maureen: "I think the world is round."
John: "I think the world is flat."
A public opinion poll indicates that fifty percent of those polled believe the world is round, the other fifty percent believe the world…
gregladen | May 13, 2008Is a semi-organized effort to 'crash' obnoxious internet polls ethically acceptable? Is it boring? Is it stupid? I sometimes ask myself that question.
But it's complicated and will take a while to work out. In the mean time, PZ Myers points out this poll regarding the recent suggestion by a Maine school board member to drop evolution from the science classroom in his district.
(Left side bar, two-thirds of the way down)
gregladen | May 12, 2008Despite the fact that the presidential candidates will not accept the invitation extended by Science Debate 2008 for a nationally broadcast science forum in May there is ample evidence to suggest that they should: A new poll ... a real poll .. indicates that 85% of US Adults agree that there should be a debate.
The poll results can be found here.
Here is a summary of the poll:
WASHINGTON--May 12, 2008-- A new poll shows that 85% of U.S. adults agree that the presidential candidates should participate in a debate on how science can be used to tackle America's major challenges. The poll…
clock | May 12, 2008David Warlick is a local blogger and educator. We first met at the Podcastercon a couple of years ago, then at several blogger meetups, and finally last January at the second Science Blogging Conference where David moderated a session on Science Education.
Welcome to A Blog Around The Clock. Would you, please, tell my readers a little bit more about yourself? Who are you? What is your background? What is your Real Life job?
I've been an educator for more than 30 years, starting as a middle school social studies, science, and math teacher. Every once in a while, I have to remind myself that…
clock | May 11, 2008It takes 38 minutes for the E.coli genome to replicate. Yet, E.coli can bo coaxed to divide in a much shorter time: 20 minutes. How is this possible?
Larry poses the riddle and provides the solution.
The key is that complex biochemical processes are taught sequentially, one by one, because that is how we think and process information. Yet, unless there is a need for precise timing (in which case there will be a timer triggering the starts and ends of cellular events), most processes occur all the time, simultaneously, in parallel. How do we teach that?
terrasig | May 10, 2008Effective science communication and science advocacy in the public arena has been much discussed in the science blogosphere. But is ranting on science and medical blogs the most effective way to promote science, especially in the United States?
I've had some discussions with other scientists, including blog colleague PhysioProf, who submit that the best way for scientists to advocate for science policy is to become politicians themselves. To this end, I read with great interest this morning of an AP story written last night by Seth Borenstein, "A Crash Course in True Political Science":…
sciencewoman | May 9, 2008I'll be in Atlanta next Tuesday and Wednesday to help judge the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, a collection of the brightest and most dedicated high school science students from around the world. I'll also be blogging about my experiences there (h/t PZ), so look for an uptick in posting next week.
There's still the opportunity to help judge the fair. Judges are still needed in lots of areas, because they try for a ~1:1 ratio of competitors to judges and there are >1500 finalists. It is a substantial committment: you need to register on Tuesday afternoon and then work all…
jlynch | May 9, 2008Not looking good for the cdesign proponentsists and their attempts to weaken science education by proposing "academic freedom" bills. First Florida. Now Alabama.